Time with NoisyRagamuffin & New Belgium's Frambozen

I stole Scotty last night while his wife performed dreadedness on my wife's head. We traversed to Mockingbird Station for time under the Irish themery (not a real word) of Trinity Hall.

The night opened with Chips and Curry and the standard Franziskaner Hefeweisen. A great conversation opener.

I then went with the Samual Smith's Organic Ale while Scotty sipped their Oatmeal Stout. The thing I enjoy about the ORganic is knowing that all the ingredients have managed to make it through the brewing process and into the bottle without being touched by pesticides or additives. A true gem.

Amidst conversation of his son's passion for God and desire to know that he knows where he stands with the Creator, the two of us jumped out on a limb and ordered the Thames Welsh ESB. A delightful surprise indeed. We paired it up with the Hall's Pub Style Curry (Scotty's Vegetarian, mine with Lamb) and it made for a surprisingly strong and complimentary relationship. The sweet, smooth toffee and molasses of the Welsh ESB against the spice and punch of the Curry made for the "Who knew?" moment of the night.

Open theism, missiology and ecclesiology. Great converstaion deserves a great liquid. What better than Chimay White Label? In my mind, there is not enough goodness that can be said of Chimay White. I will not try to start in this post. Suffice it to say, the glory of Chimay definitely fit well, a fine match, for the time that Scotty and I were afforded.

"It is good when brothers dwell together in unity..." Psalms

And, here's one for the books. I had this idea last year upon first trying New Belgium's Frambozen. It is a beauty of a drink with only limited availability from October thru December and, seeings as I tried it late in the year, I was not able to employ my dream until tonight. The idea?

Frambozen over Vanilla ice cream.

I got the idea reading a site alst year of a porter that is renown for being poured over ice cream and served as a desert. When I tried the Frambozen last year, I knew this was the inevitable destination for this beer.

So, when Kelly and I visited the store tonight, I picked up some Fram and decided to pair it with Ben & Jerry's Homemade Vanilla. You know a Vanilla Ice Cream is good when you almost stop your experiment in beauty just to finish the scoops you've served yourself.

Nevertheless, the pour of the Fram proceeded and developed into a experience in bliss. Frambozen normally has a little twang to it from the raspberries, however this was calmed only a hint by the sweetness of the Vanilla. Truth be know, had I not poured the Fram myself, I would have thought that the drink could have passed as something from Cold Stone Creamery, it was that good. The sweetness of the Ben & Jerry's Vanilla over the twang and depth of the Frambozen is simply meant to be.

Try it.

You'll like it.